Saturday, December 22, 2012

CHRISTMAS VANILLA CRESCENT COOKIES (VANILLEKIPFERL)

Sweet treats are always very appealing
at Christmas time. When I was young, my dad would bring home a
stollenhttp://gritsandgroceries.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-stollen.html
every year at this time. Another treat we would find when we visited
neighbours were baskets filled with a special vanilla sugar cookie
known as Vanillekipferl (va
neel kip furl) These were delicious crescent-shaped cookies that
originated in Vienna, then a part of Austria-Hungary.

There
is an interesting story that goes with vanillekipferl.
Since the thirteenth century, the Ottoman empire had been battling
and conquering lands in Austria-Hungary. Finally, in 1683, German,
Polish and Austro-Hungarian forces defeated the Turks and finally ran
them out of Europe for good. After the joyous victory, the bakers
mimicked the Turkish flag's crescent emblem by baking crescent-shaped
sugar cookies. Also noteworthy is the Turks leaving behind sacks of
coffee beans which led to the famous European coffee houses, one in
Liepzig where J.S.Bach hung out and wrote his famous secular Coffee
Cantata in the 1730's
.http://youtu.be/z3s1qC3HqA4
Vanillekipferl, those vanilla
crescent cookies with that historic crescent-shape, were served all
over Vienna and today are beloved Christmas cookies not only with
central Europeans but also by those descendants living here in the
USA, who call them Christmas Vanilla Cookies. In the eighteenth
century when the vanilla cookies were brought to Paris, bakers there
took that crescent shape and created the flaky Croissant
(French for “crescent”).

Basically
these Christmas Vanilla Crescent Cookies include ground nuts, usually
almonds and/or hazelnuts, along with the vanilla for flavour. Often
they are dusted with
powdered sugar and sometimes dipped in chocolate.

Here is a fine vanillekipferl
recipe, from Saveur magazine which uses walnuts for the nut
flavouring.

I am a big fan of the Christmas cookie. We make dozens-this recipe looks good. My mother in law makes stollen and it's delicious... My father in law has been known to hide it from the rest of us : ) Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Anthony, I always enjoy the bits of history that go along with your recipe.

I got something funny to tell you. I was going to make the German onion tart for Thanksgiving .....to send to my daughters.... so I got out all the ingredients and then I remembered I don't have an oven. I'm living in town for the winter and I gave the old gas stove the heave-ho, as it was leaking gas. I'm not in a hurry to get another stove as I have a hot plate, crock pots and the outside propane wok burner. Had to put everything back. Ha ha

P.S. That website has a coupon code at the end of my blog for 25.00 off and they have seafood as low as 16.95... it's for all my readers so take advantage of it and Merry Christmas good through February...

You are a veritable font of information, dear sir. I've been making variations of this cookie for many years, (like with anise... or coated in sesame seeds) but never knew why they were shaped that way.

I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas, and here's to an even better new year.

SUSANNE DRAZIC: Kathy ill with bronchitus, ear infection and sinus infection. Going on two weeks but visiting doctor and taking much medicine. Should be recovering soon. She had trouble tasting over the holidays.

SUSAN FLETT SWIDERSKI: Thanks for those kind words Susan. I've vanillekipferl with orange flavour, I imagine a wide range of flavour essences couls be used.Hope you have an exciting and wonderful New Year.